1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates to a method and apparatus for compressively forming evergreen boughs into a compact circular wreath-shaped mold. In a more limited sense, the field of the invention relates to a manual or pneumatic shaping and compression of natural evergreen boughs in a mold formed by a series of interleaved radial bough shaping and compression forming fingers/arms that allow a user to shape a wreath by held and overlaid branches and to bind the wreath while the formed wreath boughs are under compression.
2. Definition of Terms
Wreath Mold
A combined shaping, compressing and binding mold in the circular shape of a wreath to be formed is separable into upper and lower circular form portions. The lower form portion includes a series of elongated upstanding wreath forming fingers that radially define a bough cradle, and a similar upper coaxially located series of slidable bough compression arms radially define an upper mold form. The upper form portion is both removable and moveable in an up/down direction during the wreath making process of the invention.
Wreath Forming Fingers
These fingers, like spokes of a wheel, spread out from a vertical axis center to form an open, circular upstanding trough having a bottom and two sides. The open trough serves as a bough cradle, and has an outer periphery shaped as an open outward branch-receiving bow on the cradle. The inner periphery of the cradle includes an inwardly sloped upstanding guide bar, which bar forms the inner side of the trough. A series of such fingers are equally and radially spaced from the center and are mounted on a raised mounting bed for receiving bough branches from which a self-supporting, bio-degradable wreath is made.
Bough Cradle and Bough Branch Overlay
A circular bough cradle is formed by a series of spaced radial wreath forming fingers, each finger being equipped with an integral bough branch opening therein for securely holding the non-tipped end of a natural evergreen branch--pine, spruce, or the like--with an orientation such that the tipped end of the branch may be guided into a circular curve within several cradle fingers. Each succeeding radial finger in the cradle both holds and guides another individual branch into the cradle where these bough branches overlay one another in preparation for a bough compression step.
Depending upon the branch length, at least several branch stems lie circumferentially adjacent one another within several trough fingers where they may be bound together to form a self-supporting integral stem ring for the wreath. After a wreath has been formed, compressed and the branch stems have been securely bound together, the end of the branch boughs, at the branch holding openings, are cut off by snips so that the wreath may be released and removed from the mold.
Compression Arms
This invention includes a small upstanding vertical post that may be driven manually or pneumatically in a controlled up and down motion. Radially spaced on a circular mounting plate for removable placement above the bough cradle are a series of downwardly curved compression arms. Such arms radiate outwardly from a post opening located at the plate's center. For initial branch loading, the arms are not in place and the post has been lowered out of the way.
After bough loading, the compression arms are placed on the post for a controlled raising and lowering wreath making and removal process. The outermost ends of these compression arms overlap and extend slightly beyond the outer periphery of the bough cradle such that the bough branches become compressively shaped in a circular wreath mold when the compression arms are lowered by the post.
Bio-degradable Wreath and Wreath Bindings
The wreaths of this invention are totally bio-degradable and rely upon the bound together branches themselves for support, rather than relying on any extra supporting ring. When the bough branches have been compressed in the cradle, a series of tie-off spaces are presented between the interleaved fingers and arms. A wreath master simply ties the shaped branches into a compressed circular cross-sectional form by using a series of spaced bio-degradable twine pieces.
After the branches have been tied, the branches are cut from the branch holding openings on the individual wreath forming fingers, and the post is raised so that the compression arms may be removed from the top of the post. Such arms are normally held in place by the presence and/or release of a quick disconnect retaining pin. The formed and bound wreath is easily and readily removed from the wreath mold after the compression arms have been removed from the post.